1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for storing and handling laboratory objects, in particular Petri dishes. Furthermore, the invention relates to a storage device and a storage rack as well as a laboratory device.
2. Discussion of Background Information
Petri dishes are flat, round, transparent dishes with spanning lid, which are widely used in biology, medicine or chemistry. Petri dishes are thereby used for the cultivation of microorganisms and cell cultures. A flat layer of a gel-like culture medium is placed into the Petri dish and supplies the growing microorganisms with water and the necessary nutrients.
Application-specific microorganisms are locally introduced into the culture medium. Subsequently, the Petri dishes are usually incubated with the lid downwards and the culture medium upwards. With this storage, the weight of the plate bears on the lid, whereby the closure between the lid and dish is improved. Excess water does not form on the culture medium, but preferably collects on the lid.
During the incubation period, the growth of the cultures is visually inspected several times. In applications in which large numbers of plates are used, there is a need for an automation of the process. Respectively, one Petri dish is thereby removed from the incubator or the storage device and fed to an inspection device according to certain time specifications. For the inspection, the plates should be fed to the inspection device with the culture medium downwards.
To transfer the Petri dishes between the storage device and the inspection device, a transfer device is required. Usually, this has a pivoted arm, which is arranged on a wall of the incubation chamber or storage device. A Petri dish is grasped by a vacuum suction device, which is arranged on the outer end of the pivoted arm, and is removed from the incubator by a rotary motion of 180 degrees and rotated at the same time. In the inspection device, the vacuum suction device must be removed for the inspection.
Furthermore, storage racks are known for storing laboratory objects, which racks respectively provide space for several laboratory objects one above the other.